Hiroshige’s Sudden Shower at Ohashi

Utagawa Hiroshige I, Sudden Shower at Ohashi, 1857, woodblock print, 13 5/16 in x 8 5/8 in., Mead Art Museum.

Introduction

Flat colors and bold lines create the striking scene of a sudden storm. Rain pours in long, diagonal lines from a black-to-blue gradient sky, drenching the unsuspecting figures on a bridge. At first glance, it’s a simple moment. However, a closer look reveals a story in the details.

A lone person sits in a slim boat, while others on the bridge cover their heads, seeking shelter. The crowd is diverse: some wear layered clothing and geta (wooden clogs), while others appear less fortunate—shoeless, huddled under makeshift umbrellas or scraps of fabric. One has a beige hat; another, with no hat or shoes, clutches a blanket for protection. Who are these people braving the storm?

Artist Utagawa Hiroshige offers just enough to draw us in, yet withholds just enough to keep us guessing. From the intricate craftsmanship of the bridge to the distant, shadowed shoreline, dive into Hiroshige’s work and explore the iconic world of Japanese printmaking, an art form that left a lasting mark on art history. 

What exactly are Japanese woodblock prints and who is Utagawa Hiroshige?

A quick history of Japanese Woodblock prints 

Ukiyo-e, also known as Japanese woodblock prints, are credited as one of the most influential art forms in the history of the world. As author Sarah Thompson has discussed, most modern-day advertisements—from your classic billboard to a magazine cover—have origins or inspirations that can be traced back to the production of Japanese woodblock prints.¹

In some sense, you can think of ukiyo-e as really beautiful and artistically stunning advertisements—because that’s exactly what they are. Although their origins are first recorded in the 7th century, ukiyo-e production prospered during the Edo period of Japan (1603–1868), a time of great peace that led to a flourishing of culture, art, creativity, and, most importantly, publishing. With this flourish in creation, people searched for new ways to advertise their items in a quick and captivating manner that could easily be reproduced.

Therefore, the production of ukiyo-e was utilized and heavily developed throughout the Edo period. Although the style of Japanese woodblock prints is characterized by simple colors and bold lines—usually involving a minimalistic and neat look that may seem, in some sense, simplistic—the actual production of these prints involved multiple steps and the work of a diverse group of professionals. Though the artist’s design is most visible, the final print also relied on the work of a carver, printer, and publisher. The process began with the artist sketching a design on thin, semi-transparent paper, which was then pasted onto a wooden block. The carver traced and cut the design into the wood, carefully raising the lines and areas intended for color. Ink was then applied to the carved block, and a sheet of paper was pressed onto its surface. Using a gentle rubbing motion, the printer transferred the ink, producing a vibrant reproduction of the original drawing.

Due to the ability to mass-produce these prints, ukiyo-e were used for almost anything that required advertisement. These prints appeared on cards, books, maps, and were used to promote a wide range of products and events. As Thompson further points out in her writing, these prints are most easily compared to the “modern poster,” and, as a result, they were seen as disposable, cheap, and not highly valued as artworks.²

However, the significance of ukiyo-e dramatically changed around 1853, when Japan opened its borders and ukiyo-e prints began to influence Western art. As Molly Tresadern notes in When East Inspired the West: The Extraordinary Influence of Japanese Art, this style had a profound impact on European artists like Manet, Gauguin, and Van Gogh.³ Inspired by ukiyo-e, these artists began to challenge traditional Western art styles and explore new ways of representing subjects and life.

Utagawa Hiroshige

Born in 1797, Utagawa Hiroshige entered a painting school at the age of twelve, where he quickly became skilled in making Japanese woodblock prints. The artwork Sudden Shower at Ohashi, also known as Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake, was created in 1857 as part of his famous series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo.

Authors Kobayashi Tadashi and Henry Smith have shown how Hiroshige was not only a master printmaker but also a skilled painter with a diverse artistic range and a willingness to take on various challenges and commissions.⁴ Highly influenced by the famous woodblock artist Katsushika Hokusai, Hiroshige’s work tended to focus more on landscapes, natural elements, and everyday people—compared to the usual theater district and actress-inspired prints that ukiyo-e were known to depict.

However, although Hiroshige produced a massive amount of work and was well-respected and widely recognized, he earned very little money from his art due to the fact that people regarded ukiyo-e artists more as artisans than as fine artists. This discrepancy between his fame and his financial status highlights why it’s important to recognize the contribution he made to the art world, honor his skills, and, most importantly, acknowledge his life.

Japan, Weather, and Art

In a larger sense, Hiroshige’s ukiyo-e demonstrates the long history of the relationship between Japanese art, weather, and nature. From the clean, fluid lines of mountains and landscapes in Japanese woodblock prints to the stylized, vertical rain in anime, Japanese art consistently renders nature and weather with a distinct aesthetic that grants them presence and agency. Artist Georgie Hill has reflected on her travels to Japan and her exploration of depictions of weather—particularly rain. Hill writes, “Visual art in Japan has a distinctive engagement with the representation and poetics of weather, deftly evoking both atmosphere and emotion. In our current time of environmental crisis on a global scale and ever-threatening weather patterns, these depictions resonate in new and potent ways.”⁵

Hill goes on to contextualize her experience in Japan as she explores many different art styles that address the relationship between art and weather. She highlights the process of Rakusui-Shi also known as “Raindrop marked Washi,” Japanese paper making involving the process of sprinkling water. In addition, she explores anime, Arashi Shibori, and other artistic techniques that depict or utilize the weather for their artmaking process. 

The depiction of nature and weather in Japanese art brings to light the larger topic of the state of crisis the world is currently experiencing. As Hill suggests, with the intertwining narrative of human activity and climate change, perhaps some form of insight can be found through Japanese art to deepen our understanding of our relationship to the natural world, and how and why we choose to depict it in certain ways over others.

Footnotes

1. Sarah Thompson, “The World of Japanese Prints,” Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin 82, no. 349/350 (1986): 3–15. ↩︎
2. Thompson, “World of Japanese Prints.” ↩︎
3. Molly Tresadern, “When East Inspired West: The Extraordinary Influence of Japanese Art,” 2017, ArtUK, accessed April 17, 2025, https://artuk.org/discover/stories/when-east-inspired-west-the-extraordinary-influence-of-japanese-art. ↩︎
4.  Kobayashi Tadashi and Henry Smith, “The Rediscovery of the ‘Tendō Hiroshiges,’” Impressions, no. 22 (2000): 17–35. ↩︎
5. Georgie Hill, “Reflections on Weather: An Artist’s Visit to Japan,” Asia New Zealand Foundation, August 20, 2024, https://www.asianz.org.nz/arts/reflections-on-weather. ↩︎